hicks



(No Model.)

. 2 sheets-sheet 1. W. E. HICKS.

GENTRIFUGAL GUN. No. 393,107. Patented Nov. 20,1888,

ffy/wmf g ANITE iirfAgTgE-S,

WALTER E. H'rcKs, or BROOKLYN, 'New'ronif CENTRIFUGALGUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,101; a'aie'dl -Novrnbr 1888.

) Applicatlon'fil'cd September 8, 1887. Serial No. 9.4!).i00`. (No model.) A

.ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it-known that I, WALTER E. HICKS, af

citizen of the United States, residing at Brooking is a specification. j

My invention has reference. to Vcehtrifugal dynamite-guns; and it consists in providing the same with devices to maintain a solid shot;

an explosive shell, or a combination shot and shell in position at or near the periphery of a' pair of disk-.wheels placed concentrically side by side until, power having been applied-fthe.

required velocity is obtained to throw ordischarge the projectile the requisite distance dcsired, and :the ,details of construction, all of which are fully set forth in the following speciiication, and'shown in the accompanying draw'- ngs; which form part thereof.

-The object of Y thisl inventioniisu'tozthrow on discharge a' ysolid shot,"an explosive shell, ora combination shotand shell, but principally an explosive shell charged with-any of th'e'mod-l ernr high explosives-'such as nitro-glycerine,

nitro.;`gelatine, or. gui-cotton-fromfthe pe:

' jriphery or outwardedge 'of the circlefof a pair lthe action of the resultant of "the central forces,

of rapidly-rotating disk-wh eels by and through 4'cen'trip'eta-l an`d centri'fugal, and I attain these Aobjects vby the mechanism" herein illustrated' and described;

" Beferepceis to be had .tothe accompanying drawings, in which similar lettersoffreference f indicate correspondingparts'in atl the figures. Whena Vcorresponding part is shown in a dif-.- ferent position, lthe similar letters are primed-f l The wheels revolve'in the direction indi-1 cated by-the arrows in-the' drawings, and the '..tionin view.- f

Figure 1 isla side elevation with part of car riage broken away. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view.

of the firingchambers. Fig. 3 isa rear-elevation of -the-whole machine, partv in' section. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the inside-*of one in section. Fig.'6 is a detailed sectional -view taken on the line :c x of Fig. v'1.

,di'rent parts are'described with that direc- In Fig. 3, A representsia carriage tosupport the journals 0" O O, through which the shaft C revolves. To 'this shaft is attached the pulley B, the division-wheel E, and the twin diskftwhels DD. The pulley B, having rotary motion"r imparted'gto. -it-by anysuitable l.

agency, revolves the saidlwheels. 4,

Th'e'twin disk-wheels, as' shown i the drawings, Fig. 3, are bulged toward their centers,

their sectional perimeters forming the'curved lines'of a tractory, with cusps cut-off at the axis of motion and asymptotic to the periphery. They' are made in this shape to resist the enor- [nous strain of the centrifugal force, for to thef velocity o'f the wheels is due the accelerationI imparted to the projectile. Near-the periphery of the said twin disk-wheels are four oblong firing-chambers, -F F and F F, Fig. 4r

It is to be understood that two of the firingchambers,F and F, diametrically opposite to each other, are to be unlocked in rapid sequence from the right-hand. side of the twin4 j disk-wheels D D, whilel the two charnbers F and Fhave been unlocked from the 1eft-handl -in order to maintain the stability of the equilibriumof the revolving wheels. vAt oneend the said'firing-chambers-rejournaled in theiis'k'- wheels and rock'. on trunnions h. 'The other ends have axlesSoscillati ng 'in 'radialslots e',l Fig. 1, the oblong bar between .thetrunnions `h and aXles"-S being`T shape, sides trendingtoaiiatte 'Y tom, so the; arms 'e caw and'to give strength K the nxomentof dischargmxr Qntop-"at 'the axle ends of the saidchainbei-"s arev the cylindricat lungtias E', vi1aviaggi]llowfned cs ffreely/beneath, w thstandthel blow at Iwith rubber, canvas,jflv nnel, G,.orloithe13'fpli Y able material to diminish the percussion when Y firing, as well as to protect* the gunner .when

loading the gun. f Attached t thefsaid'eylin- `I'OG' drical nngulas are four doors, l?, working-on' tight against the sides of the twin disk-wheels tures shaped and claspftheproj ectile in 'a vise-lik ey grip whenf t in the position shown by chambersFFin Fig- The said chambers are held in the said posi;-

' tiens by clutch-hars T, working on shafts'll,

the notched ends meshing with clutch-.teeth T', the other ends of the said clutch-bars being connected to shafts V by rods r and arms c. When the 'projectile is tombe discharged, the shaft V isturned by means tobe hercinafter described, which unclasps the clutch-bars T from theY clutch-teeth Tf, and the chambers F F are throwny upward by centrifugal force and cani U tothe position shown by chambers F F', thcxdoors P falling automatically into pockets dd, as shown by 12 d". Theprojectiles at thi`sinstant having received their acceleration from the velocity of the twin diskwhecls, are released' for their lines of iight,

' and the action of the fring-chamhers dying upward at the moment of discharge counteracts the centripetal tendency of the curvilinear trajectory. Links W, 'attached to chambers F l F and' Ff F and linked to cams U, draw the said chambers down when locking. i

. thllimb-scrcws c', attached thereto.

llis

The journals O O, Fig. 3, have circular ilanges a a, with cylindrical sleeves a (d extending on the inside, the opening of which is somewhat large, so ashot to touch the shaltO beyond the 'proper bearings.

On the ends of thesaid sleeves arcthe collars and flanges cc, (set by sct-screws,) and'bctween the said eollarsand flanges and the said journallangcs the disks b I; are placed ecncentrically face to face, revolving on the said sleeves.l vThe said concentric disks are fastened VbyI caps and lhe said caps slide ou the periphery of the journalflanges c a, and by the adjustment of the said concentric disks, so the poiutersZ will indicate on the annular rims ll4 ll the dcgreesof eleva tion or depression desired, and, fastening them there by the caps and th n rub-screws c', the gun canbe discharged-at any given angle in the vertical plane;

y 3,1 are sleeves attaehedlo the periphery oi' the concentric Adisks l b. Loosely sliding in the Said slecves'nrc thc firing-bolts Z Z,which are held in place by the cross-pins c2 c2,wor ing in slots .in .the sides ofthe said sleeves. On top of the said sleeves are the pawls q whose fulcrnms work in brackets l Z, attached tothe sleeves. Beneath one cndof the said pawls are springs e2 el, pressing upward,so the other ends sink down through holes in the sleeves to catch in notches Z in the firing-bolts Z Z when the said. yiringdoolts are driven forward. Attached to the shaft C are the iring-bars n n.,

. which revolve with the said shaft.

Now, when the' gun is to be ired, the gunner draws the lanyard Y, Fig. 5, which places the lever-arm min the position m. The said lever-arm is'thenstruck by oneof the ri ng-bars ,whiehi 'drives' the firing bolt Z forward through.I the sleeve y. The' firing-bolt Z then strikesrihe'came, driving'it toffv (Dotted "linesUJ .,Thecani o, resting on spring fw, at -tached to ioclbolt m, drives the said. spring and lcckfhelt-to the' positioned and x'. (Dotted lines shown in the drawings, Fig. 5.) The firing-bolt Z next strikes'thc arm g, throwing the said arm and the sectors f and f of the Fig. 1. Sectors f and f having now-'partly revolved shaft V, the arms e, by means of ,conn ectingbars 9:', have unlocked clutch-bars T from clutch-teeth T', and the cam V has raised the firing-chambers F Ff, as shown'in Fig".l 4.' Dctentfpawl q having caught in the. notches Z in the firing-bolt Z when the said iiringbolt was driven forward in thejirst order, retains the saidfiring-bolt till the cam U, arm g, and A end of the pawlqdown, when'retract-'spring'8 5 u returns the' iringibolt Z to its propel: place.

the lanyard Y is released.

H H, Figs. 'i and 3,are annular ri grecs of two quadrants. Sliding on the said annular rims are two standards, N"N,(set by lyingdcnscs inside and pin-sights on top.

v upper or Iirstorder to the position shown in 7o lock-bolt x of the lower or second orden, gon the. 48o

When thewheels Ihave v Retraetspring 'o' returns the lever-,armmrwhen nis attached f 4 to thel carriage A. They encircle the concen- 9o trie disks b bandar'e graduated with the de-v` set-screws,)wl1ieh support the sight-tubesM M. f rihe said sight-tubes are provided with magnif 9 5' 'At the center of the said sight-tubes are pointy y utilized as brake-wheels, to which are applied the brake-shoes L L. When the twin diskwheels are in motion and it is desired to stop them, the crank u is turned, which'rotates the spur-wheel t. [Ihe said spur revolves the pinion t', the. said pinion rotates the Worm J, the

crum s, on which the'brake-shoes rest, brace-bar to steady the brake-shoes L L.

In Fig. 1, d d dd el d are the outside of the pockets into which the doors 'P fall. jjjj j jare asseniblingboits. il. h h h are the endsof the "trunnions of the four firing-chambers.

- S S S S are the ends of theaxles on the other end of the said ringrhamberswhich oscillatein the radial slots e c ee. V VVQV are Ithe ends of the shafts, having the arms e and cams U attached thereto. yE E E' are the ends ket' the shafts onl which the clutchfbars T work. ,In Fig. 3, r r are two` bars on the bottom cf one of the iliriiig-chambers.v

in Fig.l 2, Qis a projectile thetdoors l thrown release.

' I donot limit myself to .the details of con# open as atthe monleutof said worm' revolves theworm-gear I'and the jaclescrew K, raising the frame i and the ful-y It is a on the index, then dis'- 1 13o hinein posata struction, as they may be modied iu various ways without departing fromv my invention.

Having now described my invention; what I- 'laim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A1. In a centrifugal gun, the shaft C, pulley B for revolving the same, and the twin ldisks ing devices for'holding the free ends of the projectile-carriersrjand means for disengaging riers,1s`ubstantially as described.,

the retaining devices'from the projectile-car- 2. The disks D D, secured a shore distance' apart upon the shaft B and made tapering from the center to the periphery and formed with opposite recesses, d, in combination withopp'ositelyarrangedprojectile-carriersH,

hinged at one vend to and between'the said disks, thedoorsP P, hingedto the said car- V ,rie'rs' in position vto swing back into the said recesses d( d at thetime of ringto release the projectile, substantially as described.

` 3. The twin disks4 D D, placed centrically side byside upon a shaft, C, the pulley B for revolving said shaft, the journals O O for said shaft having circular fianges a a, with cylindricalsleeves a', ,extending on the inside, the said sleeves acting as ashaft for the concentric disks blib to revolve upon,the pivoted projectilefcarriages, and the clutches T, in combination-with intermediate mechanism for operatving t',he'c1utches for releasing the projectilecarriages, substantially as described. -l

{Intestixnony of which invention I hereunto presence of two witnesses.

., Y. n, WALTER E. HICKS.

Witnesses: 

